Top tips for coping with allergies
Frances. After a visit to a GP she was tested under the “failure to thrive” label at Yorkhill Children’s Hospital in Glasgow. Doctors found she was anaemic and recommended a series of diagnostic blood tests over several weeks.
“Each time I would go home, look up the test and panic,” Frances says. “When she was diagnosed with coeliac disease, I was very relieved. By that stage I was thinking of all kinds of thing, so to have something that was a diet problem or a lifestyle problem, rather than needing surgery or drug treatments, was a relief.”
In time, Frances’s other children were found to have the condition and the family has had to adapt to the restrictive dietary requirements.
Initially, much of the family’s food had to be sou rced by prescription as supermarkets did not carry the ‘free from’ ranges that are common now.
There were few visits to restaurants or takeaways and almost all food was prepared at home in two separate areas of the kitchen. Picnics meant packing a lot of Tupperware and sometimes taking a portable barbecue. Holidays used to involve taking an extra suitcase of suitable foods.
“There was great excitement in the coeliac community about two years ago when Warburtons brought out its gluten-free tortillas,” says Frances.
“My main advice to people would be to cook. People who buy a lot of ready meals will find it difficult. And get friends on side – it is important for children not to miss out on sleepovers and parties.”
School issues were also overcome. At the start of the school year Frances would provide the class teacher with a box of suitable treats for occasions when the children would share something, such as a birthday cake. Other people’s birthday parties also required planning.
“Ahead of one of the parties I checked out the provision for gluten-free pizzas in the selected venue,” Frances explains.
“I saw that the guidance for staff read, ‘ you may wonder why people with a wheat allergy choose to come to a pizza restaurant’. I was thinking, because they have friends. But that was a long time ago. People are better informed now and attitudes are much better.”
There is no doubt that awareness about allergies and intolerances has improved but there is much discussion over why such conditions are more prevalent.
Some scientists believe our modern world is too clean, effectively leaving the bored immune system to create new enemies to keep itself occupied. So if we accept that and stop hoovering so much, then cleaning up after children’s birthday parties might be lot simpler, even if the menu planning is not. n l FIND out information online. Most allergen advice websites publish lists of approved foods and many retailers and fast-food chains supply detailed allergen information. l Get friends on board. Find out who your child wants to visit at home and get their parents on side. Clear advice keeps things simple and enables children to join in social activities such as parties and sleepovers. l At school, take a box of suitable sweets or treats to the class teacher at the start of the year so that when children or teachers provide a cake to share in class, there is something from the box for your child. l Pack Tupperware boxes of suitable food for picnics and packed lunches. l Learn to cook and avoid problem or processed foods. Designate a preparation area of the kitchen as ‘free from’ to avoid contamination. l When going abroad, take emergency provisions and get to know local restaurants as some will be happy to cook special ingredients or tailor a menu.